DELIA PEREZ, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS GUARDIAN OF NICHOLAS E. PEREZ, INCOMPETENT, APPELLANT,
v.
SEABOARD COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1973-05-15
No. 72-1004
Before CHARLES CARROLL, HEN-DRY and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
277 So. 2d 825 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1973) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this personal injury case arising from a train-automobile collision at a crossing, the plaintiff appeals a jury verdict in favor of the railroad, challenging the trial court's refusal to instruct on the doctrine of last clear chance and the court's response to a jury question about findings of mutual negligence.


Holding

The trial court did not commit reversible error. The doctrine of last clear chance did not apply because the evidence did not support a finding that the engineer saw or should have seen the stalled automobile in time to stop the train. The court's answer to the jury's question was correct because the jury was presumed to apply the earlier charges on negligence, contributory negligence, and proximate cause when it stated it had found both parties negligent.


Headnotes

[1] The doctrine of last clear chance is inapplicable when the evidence does not support a finding that the defendant saw or should have seen the plaintiff's peril in time to…

[2] A trial court may answer a jury's question about the law by referring to previously given instructions, assuming the jury understood those instructions.

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Key Quotes

“the trial court correctly concluded that the evidence did not furnish basis for application of the doctrine of last clear chance”

Establishes that the court found no reversible error in refusing the last clear chance instruction based on the visibility conditions at the crossing.

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Facts & Procedural History

The plaintiff's automobile stalled on railroad tracks at a Miami crossing while he was driving north. A train traveling east at 15-18 mph struck the c…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This appeal is by the plaintiff below from an adverse judgment entered on a jury verdict, in an action for damages for personal injuries sustained when a passenger train operated by appellee’s employees struck his automobile at a crossing in Miami.

The train was traveling east at a speed of IS to 18 miles per hour. Appellant was driving -north on Northwest 21st Avenue. When the appellant drove his car onto the tracks it stalled with the forward part of the car on the track upon which the train was approaching. Testimony of the engineer and the fireman was to the effect that appellant’s car was observed approaching the crossing, and when it stopped thereon the train was 200 to 250 feet away; that when it was seen that the car was stalled, the emergency procedure was commenced; and that the train would travel 200 to 250 feet after application of emergency brakes. When the car stopped on the tracks the appellant and his passenger saw the approaching train. The passenger advised that they get out. After an effort to restart the car failed the passenger exited, and urged the appellant to do likewise. The appellant continued his attempts to start the car, and then got out on the side from which the train was approaching, but not in time to clear the area, with the result that when the train struck the forward end of his car it caused the rear of the car to strike the appellant and throw him against and partly under the train.

Appellant contends the trial court committed error in two respects. First, by refusing to charge the jury on the doctrine of last clear chance, and second, by giving an incorrect answer to a question presented to the court by the jury after the jury had retired. On consideration thereof in the light of the record and briefs we find no reversible error has been shown.

It appeared that because of the conditions prevailing, including a boxcar stationed 400 to 450 feet west of the crossing, the driver approaching from the south could not see the train, nor could the engineer see the approaching automobile until the train reached that point. Appellant contends, however, that there was evidence from which the jury could have found that the engineer saw. or should have seen the automobile stalled on the track while the train was a sufficient distance from the crossing to have permitted emergency stopping of the train before it reached the crossing. In our view the trial court correctly concluded that the evidence did not furnish basis for application of the doctrine of last clear chance.

After the court had charged the jury on the law applicable to the case, including charges on negligence, contributory negligence and proximate cause, and the jury had retired to consider and determine the case, the jury presented a written question to the court as follows: “Judge, if we the jurors find the plaintiffs and the defendants both negligent, what do we do ?” The court returned the written question to the jury with his answer thereon as follows: “Your verdict should be for the defendant.” A short time later the jury returned the verdict for the defendant.

The appellant argues that the answer given by the court was incorrect and misleading in that it did not also include a repetition of the charge on proximate cause, and did not explain the dependence of negligence or contributory negligence thereon. The appellee contends, and we agree, that since the jury had been so charged initially, the court’s answer to the jury’s question was correct because the court was entitled to assume that when the jury stated, in effect, that they had found both the plaintiff *827and defendant guilty of negligence, the jury had done so with reference to the charges which had been given them relating to negligence, contributory negligence and proximate (or legal) cause.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Perez v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co., 288 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 1973)
    …Certiorari denied. 277 So. 2d 825. CARLTON, C. J., and ROBERTS, BOYD and DEKLE, JJ., concur. ERVIN, ADKINS and McCAIN, JJ., dissent.…
  • …tt M. Lifter, Inc. v. Varnado, 480 So. 2d 1336 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985), review dismissed, 484 So. 2d 7 (Fla.1986); Dukes v. Pinder, 211 So. 2d 575 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 219 So. 2d 700 (Fla.1968); see also Perez v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Co., 277 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 288 So. 2d 505 (Fla.1973). Thus, we reverse the final judgment and remand for a new trial. Reversed and remanded. SCHWARTZ, C.J., concurs. . We reversed the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in Morgan Int'l Real…

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